


Calm before the storm

by GothCountess



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Cleo tries to get Saira to talk about her feelings, CleoBellum, F/F, Fluff, I post this and my braincells scatter like that rats in ratatouille, I'm Bad At Summaries, One Shot, arguing but eventual fluff, no beta we die like women, not teeth rotting but it'll give u a cavity, takes place during season four
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-19 01:54:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29499897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GothCountess/pseuds/GothCountess
Summary: Doctor Bellum returns from the Himalayas only to immediately shut herself off in her lab. Suddenly she is left alone with Cleo in the castle-- and the two certainly have a few things to "talk out".
Relationships: Dr. Saira Bellum/Countess Cleo (Carmen Sandiego)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 49





	Calm before the storm

There was another clash as Countess Cleo turned in her silk sheets. She tried everything; covering her head with a pillow, even listening to those damned records Maelstrom loaned her. Even the ocean’s sounds didn’t aid in her attempted beauty sleep. She felt her mind too focused on the noise. Or rather on the person who was the source of the bothersome racket: Doctor Saira Bellum.

The truth was, Saira barely left her lab since her return from the Himalayas. And if she had exited, she surely didn’t make an effort to see Cleo or at least to interact with her. Though in Bellum’s defense— Cleo hadn’t made much of an effort either.

Cleo groaned, finally gathering up enough annoyance to walk down to Doctor Bellum’s lab to give her a piece of her mind.

She hesitantly opened the lab’s door, not for the precaution of interrupting Saira, but for her own safety as it wasn’t uncommon for pieces of metal to come flying at her head.

Doctor Bellum was far too focused on a variety of projects to hear that Cleo entered. Her hair was completely disarrayed, most likely from running her hands through it so many times during her thought process. “Oh dear.. come back here.” She mumbled, looking underneath the table for a missing screw.  
As she gathered the screw, she saw a very familiar flash of green and black feathers. “Cleo!” She jumped, hitting her head on the bottom of the table in the process. “What are you doing up at this hour?”

“Listening to your scientific orchestrations, naturally.” She stayed far from Doctor Bellum’s work table, from the signs of it the Doctor was working on wielding something.

“Metal isn’t exactly a quiet material to work with, you know.” From the looks of it, Doctor Bellum hadn’t gotten a blink of rest since her arrival back to the castle. The Doctor was far jumpier than usual, which wasn’t a shock either.

There was a brief silence, her thoughts battling with the sounds from Doctor Bellum’s machinery. She continued to stare at Saira with a mix of daggers and sympathy. The doctor seemed to be oddly distracted or rather, she was avoiding her gaze.

“Oh would you stop staring at me like a wounded animal, Countess.”

“Are you? Because you’re doing a terrible job of showing it.” There was a certain bitterness in her voice, as if she was challenging Saira to try and protest her wellness.

“Cleo.”

“I’m tired of this act, Saira! How on earth can you be fine after all that has happened. Your whole lab was destroyed. Years of your brilliant work just thrown away by the hands of Carmen Sandiego—“

She was interrupted by a loud screeching sound from some type of metal. Saira furrowed her brows, very clearly trying to tune Cleo out for the remainder of her little speech.

“Saira, we’ve been using operatives for centuries now. Certainly you can rest while you recover from this blow.” Cleo placed a hand on Saira’s shoulder, though it was quickly brushed off.

“The faster I ‘recover’ the faster I can get back to fixing this mess.”

“By ‘Fixing this mess’ do you mean overworking yourself in the process which leads to nothing but exhaustion and frustration?”

This was the first time Saira looked at Cleo since her entrance. She placed her hands down on her work table, sighing deeply. She looked up at Cleo once more, then turned to look for an imaginary part of an ever ominous project.

The two orchestrated an ensemble of procrastinating silence, their eyes finding everything but each other. Cleo finally stepped forward, her worry overcoming her. “Saira. Are you alright?”

Ah yes, the ever-pending question that made Saira Bellum place her hands on the workbench once more, sighing. “How can I be, Cleo?” her voice wavered over the buzzing room. It wasn’t a statement, more so a genuine question. She hated showing this much weakness-- especially in front of Cleo, someone who she constantly sought to impress. She felt a hand on her upper back, one that she let herself relax into.  
She breathed deeply, “Why aren’t you upset with me?”

“Why would I be?”

“The crown Cleo.” Saira’s voice fell soft. “Your crown.”

“The crown was important to me, yes. And it was extremely beautiful and.. breathtaking.. and it would’ve gone with so many of my outfits for the coming season,” She quickly recognized Bellum’s intake of breath and cleared her throat.

“The conclusion is, Saira. There are plenty of crowns in this world, and there will be more opportunities.” She spoke in a soothing pattern that seemed to relax Saira’s mind. She moved her hand up and down Saira’s back. “Don't blame yourself. Not when we have so much time to recover.” She brushed a few strands of hair from Saira’s face, and smiled at how quickly she softened.

“I appreciated that you would go through such feats for me.” She smiled gently, enjoying the sight of a now-relaxed Doctor Bellum. “No one has.. done something like that before. Well, not without me telling them to.”

Doctor Bellum slowly straightened her back, a small pain coming on due to her crash in the himalayas. She moved closer to Cleo, her mind searching for the right things to say. Or rather, she knew exactly what she wanted to say, but didn’t want to face it just yet.

“Saira. May I hold you?”

Doctor Bellum slowly nodded, though the rest of her body moved much faster as she burrowed into Cleo’s arms.  
She felt the soft fabric of Cleo’s robe against her face. She sighed deeply, feeling Cleo’s perfume linger in her nose. Most people would find Cleo’s sweet perfume overwhelming, but there was a certain comfort in it. She recognized this specific robe— a dark emerald silk with black feathers lining the sleeves. Saira didn’t see the appeal in such clothing until now.

Doctor Bellum pulled back from the embrace, slowly. She certainly didn’t want it to end, but didn’t want to be talking into Cleo’s chest. She couldn’t help the smile coming across her features as she looked up at Cleo. “From the feel of that it seems like you missed me.” It was a teasing statement to distract Doctor Bellum from the fondness she felt for Cleo.

“You know me better than to doubt that.” There was a small moment of tenderness until both of them fully pulled away from each other. They both had become conscious of the time-- both of them were losing much more sleep than they should. Saira mourned the loss of Cleo’s warmth, though Cleo was known to be much more cold natured.

She gave one last smile towards her doctor before turning away. “Saira, do try to keep the noise down.” She pressed the door’s panel, “I for one value my beauty sleep.”

“Goodnight, Cleo.” Doctor Bellum smiled, turning back to shut off her work. Perhaps Maelstrom and Brunt’s absence wouldn’t be too bad after all. Not if She was going to be spending it with Cleo.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! You will definitely see more cleobellum fics from me in the future-- I love these two! Comments and Kudos are very appreciated :D


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